My little garden:



I had some tomato plants ready to transplant into the raised bed that previously held garlic. The raised bed on the left side of the image has a couple of cucumber and zucchini plants that are taking their sweet time growing. Moving beyond the two raised beds is another shorter raised bed containing a mix of mint, flowers and veggies.

(oops, since they're not veggies I edited out the two pictures of my hibiscus and moved them over to the all things gardening forum)

Yesterday I started digging my garlic (with clay soil I can't pull them or I would be pulling the tops off and still having to dig the bulbs), tieing them in bundles and hanging them in the shed to dry. Chinese Pink is my earliest one, with most of the tops really dead. Polish White is the variety I dug this morning, only half of it, so tomorrow I'll dig the rest of that. I also have a few Elephant garlic which are actually a segmented leek and not a garlic at all, Turkish Giant and Persian Star. I'll be done in a few more days. I work at it early in the mornings while watering and doing other chores.

Forecast today is for 101 or 103. Hot anyway.

Oberon46 said:

I need to fertilize to day. I am wayyy behind on that. especially my sole tomato plant. I am really excited that it is doing well in it's little round greenhouse pot. The cage I built is about 36" tall so it should be okay for the rest of the summer. I can almost taste the tomato, cheese, lettuce sandwich with salt and pepper.

Mary if your greenhouse setup for your tomato plant works out you can expand to more tomatoes next year. Nothing like a fresh picked tomato from the garden.

wayne said:My little garden:



I had some tomato plants ready to transplant into the raised bed that previously held garlic. The raised bed on the left side of the image has a couple of cucumber and zucchini plants that are taking their sweet time growing. Moving beyond the two raised beds is another shorter raised bed containing a mix of mint, flowers and veggies.

(oops, since they're not veggies I edited out the two pictures of my hibiscus and moved them over to the all things gardening forum)

I like your setup. Your veggie garden looks really nice to me.

Shadegardener said:Cookies - I've heard that leaves with a citrus scent like lemon verbena help repel mosquitoes when rubbed on the skin. Haven't tried it but it might be worth the experiment.
Sandy - I saw a "Gardening Australia" segment showing corn salad planted in the fall. The description sounded enticing. Is there a good variety to try?

Cindy, that's interesting about the citrus-scented leaves repelling mosquitoes; I think the scented geraniums that are sold as "mosquito-shoo" (or something) plants are also lemon scented. Maybe we could just douse ourselves in lemon juice and be done with it...

As far as the corn salad... this is pretty much all new to me, too! Last summer I planted seeds that I got from Pinetree, that didn't specify the cultivar; they grew well and made really cute rosettes of leaves, survived the winter and started growing again in the spring; something different to add to spring salads is about all I can say for it, very mild flavored. I have some going to seed now, to replant. Also got some "Dutch Corn Salad" seeds in Ella's Piggy Seed Swap (on Cubits) last winter, from RickCorey, which I will plant this fall; I think the leaves of that type are supposed to be larger than what I had. I also had lettuce planted in my unheated hoophouse that started growing in the spring and has gone pretty crazy by this time... I think this year I will plant some seeds in the HH that will (hopefully) start growing early in the spring and can be transplanted out to the garden when the weather stabilizes a bit -- my version of "winter sowing," I guess!

Thank you Rita!

Rita, I discovered some aphids (&^$%^%#%$@#$&!!!!!) on my tomato. I mixed up neem oil and soap and doused it good. The way the little cage is set up I can just lift it up, tend the plant, then put it back. Doused my brocs also. For sure this fall the beds will be drenched with neem oil and soap. Then covered with mulch. And yes if this works I will most surely have several pots of tomatoes.

I harvested 3.5 quarts of rhubarb (red and green), several brocs (which I will freeze after soaking in salted water to get the neem oil and any bugs off) and a bunch of spinach for D's salads. Salad bowl lettuce is so difficult to wash. The Olga which is a hybrid of salad bowl and, drat grey moment, the stuff you make caesar salads from. Stands up nicely and is crunchier.

I have rarely found aphids on my tomato plants. Years ago when I used higher nitrogen chemical fertilizers on them I would always find aphids on them. These days I stick to organic.

Like I said, nothing like home grown tomatoes. Yummy!

Mary, BT (Bacillus thuringiensis) is great for spraying on broccoli (and other cabbage-family plants) to get rid of the cabbage worms. Assuming you even have them in Alaska -- ? Do you have the white "cabbage butterflies" ? Recently I've been having more of a problem with slugs on my broccolli, and pretty much everything else . Sluggo to the rescue!!

Sandy - I wonder how an inch thick layer of Perlite would do to prevent slugs from attacking your broccoli.

I've never heard of using Perlite for slugs, Arlene (which means absolutely nothing; every day I discover something I've never heard of here ); have you used that yourself? Seems it would be worth a try, if nothing else!

I haven't heard of it either but if their tender bellies don't like pebbles, or any irritant, it seems Perlite would be quick, easy and efficient.

I crumpled up some basil leaves and tossed them around the base of my plants and the slugs were gone the next day and have not been back...It worked for me.....but your mileage may vary

Sandy - thanks for the info on the corn salad. I ordered a few seeds from Hirt's yesterday (via Amazon) and got free shipping when I ordered 3 packets. I did order some corn salad as well as more daikon radish for fall planting. They'll go into big pots that I can put into the tall cold frame for cold protection if needed.
I had heard about the lemon scented thing on You Bet Your Garden. Just growing the lemon-scented plants won't repel the suckers - the leaves need to be crushed and rubbed on the skin.

I have the citronella plants growing by the fountain, and the mosquitoes simply use it as a convenient landing pad.

The homemade mosquito catcher has caught a few, but at this rate I'd need to set one out every few yards. Then I'd be making both that mix and the hummingbird broth by the gallon!

Mosquitoes won't lay eggs in moving water but if your citronella leaves are wet, they'll love that. You can throw a Bti mosquito dunk in your fountain and any water that splashes out onto plants will have the bacteria in it. DH did spray the Cutters a few weeks ago and we've been pretty much sucker-free. Hopefully all of the Bti traps are helping.

I did add BTi ...everywhere I could think of, but I'd think that most of it has washed away. The fountain, rain barrels and larvae traps are still good, but I probably should apply more to the yard.

Don't forget gutters. Even if they're free of debris, water can sometimes pool in there.

My green beans, cucumbers, winter squash have all shut down. Any of you in "hot" spots think they will restart when its cooler, or should I pull them up?

Cucumbers I would think are done for. Don't know about the rest. But I pull my beans when they peter out of production. I never wait to see of they could start up again.